Introduction: European Universities and Their Changing Roles and Functions
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Abstract
There are numerous and often interrelated causes of current transformations of European
universities studied in this volume. First, globalization processes with their impacts on
European nation states and public services these nation states have traditionally been
guaranteeing to its citizens. Second, Europeanization processes, most often defined as a regional, European response to globalization and internationalization processes. Third, the large-scale (in theory, practice, or both) questioning of the foundations of the “Golden Age”
of the Keynesian welfare state in the form it has been known in postwar Europe and largescale reforms (in theory, practice, or both) of the public sector in general and its particular public services. Four, demographic changes which affect or are expected to affect in the next few decades the majority of aging European societies. Five, the massification and (often)
universalization of higher education and its increasing diversification across European
systems. And, finally, the emergence of knowledge societies and knowledge-driven
economies and the acknowledgement of the fundamental role universities play in new
economic and social contexts. The above processes, except for demographics, have been
culminating about a decade ago and have been accompanied by powerful, both national and
supranational, discourses at various interrelated policy-making levels.
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Keywords
university governance, university funding, complexity, public-private dynamics, European educational policies, policy convergence, higher education, public policy, European universities, transformations, university reforms, higher education reforms, university organization, organizational approach, university as organization, public sector, public trust, public sector services, academic profession, academic faculty, global trends, European trends, Europeanization, massification, universalization, globalization, demographics, university income
Citation
Człowiek i społeczeństwo. Vol. 35 (2013)